Tag: lesson

For the past year I have been working crazy hard to get a comprehensive high school art curriculum put together on my Teachers Pay Teachers site. I started with my Introduction to Art curriculum, and it quickly gained popularity. I realized there was a market for complete curriculums so teachers can worry about focusing on their students and whats going on in their classrooms, rather than the lesson plans.

After the success of my Intro to Art curriculum I formulated a plan. I would create a curriculum bundle back for all the high school art courses I have experience with, then bundle all of those into a mega-super-TPT-art bundle. As of last week I completed my AP Art 2D Design and Drawing curriculum, which completed my 2D focused high school art curriculum. This huge bundle includes year-long intro to art, advanced art, and AP art curriculums and semester long drawing and painting curriculums.

This was a HUGE accomplishment for me and a goal I’ve been working towards for a year. However, for this blog post I am going to focus on the details of my AP Art bundle, and save the high school art curriculum for a later post. Check out the details of my AP Studio Art course below.

I taught AP Art for a few years at my last job, and loved it, but it was an overwhelming task to take on. It’s difficult to motivate students to produce the amount of work required for the AP art portfolio. After taking a break from teaching it and a lot of reflection, I began developing some material that would have helped me a lot in the beginning.

I did go through an AP certification course, but it’s a single week in the summer. I get a ton of good information and head start on the year, but the things we covered quickly left my brain as we got into the grittiness that is spring semester. If I make my way back to teaching AP art at my current job, I am excited to now have these resources to help me, and my students stay on top of the rigorous schedule.

In addition the meat of the AP art portfolio, projects for breath, concentration, and quality, I also include a yearlong timeline, printable calendar with every deadline, homework assignments, AP Art application, syllabus, parent and student agreement, summer work, supply list, sticker chart, and so much more. I have specifics that go along with each portfolio section as well as lesson plans, presentations, and evaluation sheets to go with each project.

BREADTH ASSIGNMENTS:

The breath section requires 12 works of art submitted (for 2D Design and Drawing portfolios), which can include details. I lay out 14 breadth assignments to be completed in semester one. This may seem like a lot, but some take longer than others, and it’s important for students to be able to select their best works of art, which means ideally more than 12 are created. In my breadth bundle in addition to project information I include lesson plans, handouts, evaluation sheets, critique sheets, PowerPoints, examples, and more for every project. Below are details on the 14 assignments:

Semester Long Canvas:

A focus on working on a work of art for an extended period of time, encouraging creativity and problem solving.

The ability to take breaks and work on it when inspiration hits.

Artist exemplars: Gustav Klimt and Pirkko Makela-Haapalinna

Bones and Exoskeletons

A focus on technical ability, value, and object studies.

Putting their own spin on a traditional subject matter.

Artist exemplars: Albrecht Durer and Jason Borders.

Perspective

A focus on technical ability, foreshortening, and displaying understanding of perspective in art.

Artist exemplars: M.C. Escher and Stephen Wright.

Design

A focus on design elements in both the 2D design and drawing portfolios.

Show an understanding of using the elements of art and principles of design in a work of art.

Focus on elevating the ordinary subject matter through the composition and medium.

Artist exemplars: Henry Mosler, Ralph Goings, and William Wray.

Action Portrait

Artist exemplars: Edgar Degas and Nikunj Rathod

Focus on using the elements of art and principles of design to create a sense of movement.

Creating a dynamic work of art.

Abstract Acrylic

Artist exemplars: Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky, and Mark Rothko

A focus on line, shape, color, balance, unity, and focal point.

Unusual Interiors

Focus on light, perspective, and overlooked or not typically seen as “beautiful” interior spaces.

Artist exemplars: Edward Hopper and Richard Estes.

Layers and Mixed Media

Focus on layers, mixed media, and blurring the lines between the figure/ground relationship through stable, reversible, and ambiguous figure/ground.

Artist exemplars: Juan Gris and Christina McPhee

Satire in Art

Focus on a current issue through satire and humor.

Artist exemplars: James Gillray, Nate Beeler, and Paul Kuczynski

10 Interesting Photographs

Turn one of the student’s 10 interesting photographs homework assignment into a work of art.

Artist exemplars: Student selects one through research.

Scan & Repurpose

Take a work of art from earlier in the semester or a previous art course and turn it into a new work of art.

Scan the old work of art into the computer and digitally manipulate it or scan, print, and complete a transfer onto a new background.

Artist exemplars: Student selects one through research.

Visual Jourmal

Eight visual journal pages are due by the end of the semester.

CONCENTRATION:

The concentration section of the portfolio requires 12 works of art (for 2D design and drawing portfolios) that all fit under one theme. My concentration bundle pack includes 2D Design and Drawing specific introduction PowerPoints as well as lesson plans, handouts, information sheets, evaluation sheets, critique reminders and more. This bundle is meant to serve as a guide for how students can pick a topic that can last through at least 12 works of art.

QUALITY:

The quality section of the AP art portfolio has the students select 5 of their best works of art to be physically mailed in to be evaluated. My quality bundle pack includes details and information sheets to help guide the students, a PowerPoint, lesson plan, submission guidelines, teacher tips, planning an AP art exhibit, and so much more.

The AP Art bundle is my largest curriculum undertaking to date. I have spent endless hours putting it together, and I must say I am very proud. Since it was posted last week, I have already sold a few, and I can’t wait to hear feedback.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. Help me spread the word by sharing with others. Check out my other TPT and art education blog posts here. Check out my other TPT products here. Thanks for stopping by!

At my previous school I always taught a lesson on the grid method by creating a collaborative grid with my students. Each student would get a section of the original image, and they had to enlarge and re-draw it. In order to accurately re-draw the image they had to pay attention to where lines and shapes intersected the outside edge of the image, which in turn taught them the basic concept of the grid method (read more about this here).

In the process of changing schools I also changed my teaching title, which meant a lot of new lesson planning was ahead of me. I was now exclusively a sculpture teacher, teaching 3D I and 3D II classes. Although I had taught sculpture in the past, and spent a lot of time in ceramics class in high school and college, I felt a lot of pressure to re-create assignments, and think outside of the box. After all I was moving to a private school with an established and impressive art department, I felt I had big shoes to fill in my new work environment.

Although it has been stressful at times trying to produce examples and create new projects, I have loved every minute of it. It truly is amazing how different a class can be when you actually have the budget to support it. I now had the ability to teach interesting, complex, and creative projects, without the fear of running out of supplies with no money left in my budget.

As excited as I was to have a new challenge in my life, I did miss some of my old projects, including my Intro to Art collaborative grid assignment. One day while reminiscing on the past, as I often do, it dawned on me that I could do a collaborative grid project in sculpture, by focusing on relief carving. I had my doubts that everything would come together during the project, but once all of the pieces were in place, I couldn’t believe how amazing it looked. I am so proud of my students and I hope another sculpture teacher can find an interesting way to implement this into their class.

THE ASSIGNMENT: Collaborative Relief

OBJECTIVE: For students to learn the history and techniques of relief carving, and apply those techniques in a collaborative relief carving project.

SUPPLIES:

Lizella Clay

Rolling pin or slab roller

Ruler

Needle tool or knife

A variety of clay tools and textured items to carve and add texture

Low fire underglaze (I used blue, green, red, brown)

Low fire clear transparent glaze

Kiln

Wood panel

Black Paint

Heavy duty glue

STEPS:

1. I began this project by introducing my students to the artists, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, and the famous Florence Baptistry doors competition. I had the students vote on which “Sacrafice of Isaac” relief they liked better, and we continued to discuss the doors as well as the Gates of Paradise doors.

2. After the history lesson I introduced the assignment. I explained that I would randomly hand out a 1″x1″ section of a larger image, and they would have to recreate it as a relief sculpture on a 6″x6″ clay slab. We discussed carving techniques and looked at the variety of tools they could use to create different textures.

3. After the assignment was explained they got to work. Before they started the project I had taken an image of our Fine Arts building, divided it into a grid, and put a number and letter on the back of each square (1A, 1B, 1C, etc.). I made sure to make a few copies, the students tend to misplace their squares and it helps to have extras on hand. As soon as the students got their slab square cut they had to flip it over and carve the letter and number into the back of it.

4. After the students completed their squares I fired them and had the students glaze them. I knew every line and shape would not line up in the image, so my goal was to create a sense of unity through the glaze. I instructed the students to loosely paint underglaze onto their tile (I set up a few colors of blue, green, brown, and red) allow it to dry, then wipe it off with a wet sponge. This technique caused the underglaze to stick in the textured areas, and wipe off of the smooth area, giving it a loosely painted quality. Once the colors were added they painted a layer of clear glaze on top, and once again wiped it off. I loved the shiny vs. matte look this created.

5. Once the pieces were fired a final time I glued them to a piece of wood I cut to size and painted black. My plan is to eventually add a black frame and display it in the Fine Arts Building.

My students were as impressed as I was with the final product, and it was a huge hit at our annual art show. I love how each piece is important to the whole, and how it truly came together in the end.

Thanks for visiting my blog, I hope you find useful information you can use in your classroom! Please comment if you have additional tips, ideas, or have done something similar in your class! Thanks for helping my spread the word about my blog by liking, tweeting, commenting, and subscribing! I couldn’t do it without you!

This is a project I have done twice, and it was very successful on both occasions. I love it because it introduces the students to installation art, without taking over too much space at school, and the students love it because they get a life size replica of themselves. The only issue I have faced with this project is the amount of tape required. It takes a TON of packaging tape. I would estimate 10-15 rolls of packaging tape per sculpture. After checking prices at office stores, and even dollar stores, I decided to order from an online company. In the end I went with, boxforless.com, and got the tape for about $0.60 per roll. I hope you have the finances to do this project, because it really is a great project for Sculpture I or II.

SUPPLIES

Packaging tape

Scissors

Students

Fishing wire (to hang)

Paper clips, or something more fancy to hang with

HOW TO

1. I always start new projects with a PowerPoint of an artist exemplar, student examples (if I have them), the steps, and my expectations/grading. I like to give the students all of the information up front, that way there is no miscommunication, although with high school students there is always some form of miscommunication. After I present the project I also add the step-by-step instructions to my board. My theory is by presenting the information to them verbally and visually, through my PowerPoint and on the board where they can reference it during class, there should be zero missteps. You would think this would be fool proof… but get ready… many repeated questions will still await you.

For this particular project I decided to present three artist exemplars. The reason I chose to do this is because installation art can be used for a number of reasons. For this assignment I focused on making a person aware of their space, Richard Serra was the exemplar for this, making a person aware of a particular part of their surroundings, Andy Goldsworthy was the exemplar for this, and making a statement about the location, Claes Oldenberg was used for this. I typically have a slide with basic background on the artist, followed by images. Whenever I introduce a new artist I have my students fill out a worksheet I hand out at the beginning of the year. All it is, is two columns with “artist” written above the left column and “artist info” written above the right column. They fill in general points to help them remember the artist on the sheet, and I grade it at the end of the year.

I followed the artist exemplars with student examples. Since I had done this project once before, I had a few images to share. I cannot stress enough the importance of photographing student work. It helps tremendously when introducing projects.

After all of the examples I explain the assignment and my expectations. I explained to the students they could choose any area of the school to display their sculpture but it had to some how relate to the space. Like the artist exemplars they could either focus on making someone aware of their space by the presence of the sculpture, bringing attention to a specific architectural element or part of the space, or they could make a statement about the space. The students were divided into groups of two, but if they wanted to team up with another group and have their sculptures interact that was an option.

2. In order to create a tape person you must use your own body to construct it, which is why the students need to work in groups. I tell my students to first consider what position their tape person will be in, that way they can arrange their body in that position to make building it easier.

The students work on building their person section by section. They wrap the packaging tape sticky side up on a part of their body, for example their forearm, and then they wrap the tape sticky side down. I recommend wrapping two layers sticky side up, two layers sticky side down, in order for the tape person to be thick enough.

Once the body part is wrapped they CAREFULLY use scissors to cut the tape off. I have had only one incident where a student was jabbed a little too hard and had a minor cut on his arm. I told him to tell Mom it happened in PE, and all was good.

Once they have all of the pieces created they have to tape them back together. First they need to tape the cut line, and then they need to tape the pieces to each other. In this step they must consider the position of the body. Is the elbow bent, is the person crouching, sitting, or standing. They can slightly overlap the sections as they tape them back together, but they must be careful not to lose the correction proportions.

I have mannequin heads in my classroom, which we use to create the head. Find something that will work for a head, you do not want your students wrapping their heads in tape.

Because you have to wrap sensitive areas, I also recommend dividing the students up based on gender. I allowed my girls to use my storage closet if they felt uncomfortable wrapping certain areas in front of the class.

3. Once the tape people are constructed it’s time to hang. I have had a lot of help from facility employees in the past, but this year I has a little more on my own. If you are hanging in high places, just be careful! Most schools have the tiles that can be moved, with the metal support bars in between. I tie fishing wire to the sculpture, and then to a bent paperclip. I then bend the paperclip around the metal support bar, and put the tiles back in place. This may sound ghetto, but it works like a charm. The tape people are relatively light and as long as you have at least two hanging points you shouldn’t have an issue.

If any students want their tape person standing make sure the legs are thick enough to hold the weight, put it in an out of the way spot, and prop it against a wall. I haven’t had a lot of luck with the standing people staying standing. Typically a weak point will buckle, and they turn into sitting people.

Here are examples from my Fall 2012 Sculpture I class! I hope you enjoy!

I don’t know how it happened, but someone I ended up with two groups doing upside down Spidermen in two different areas. Typically I would encourage one group to do something else, but they were both so excited about it, I let it go. The purpose of both sculptures were to bring attention to the high ceilings in the areas. When you are walking in a building you are in day, after day, you begin to forget about all of the interesting architectural details. I thought both did a great job! This sculpture was suspended from the overhang above the entrance. I love how it makes you look up and pay attention to the high ceilings.

Even though I had two Spidermen, at least they were in different areas and had slightly different positions. This sculpture was suspended from the railing. I loved how the head looked from the floor below, all you could see was a round orb until you walked up the stairs. This one is hung in the Middle School building, and of course they ate it up!

This sculpture is one of my favorites from this group. It was well made and they added the wings for an extra detail. I currently work at a private Christian school. This is my first year here, and I came from a title one public school. HUGE difference. As a Christian school we have a chapel, and this piece is placed in the chapel. The students wanted to bring focus to the purpose of the space, to worship. They placed the angel in a position to make it seem as if it is flying towards the altar, and the angel emphasizes the idea of a holy place. This group was very thoughtful with the location.

This sculpture was the only sitting sculpture. It was placed in the library, in a chair that is one of a group of four. The librarians LOVED having it, they cracked up when they saw three students studying in the chairs with the tape person occupying the fourth. The purpose of this sculpture was to highlight the purpose of the space, to read and learn.

This sculpture was placed at the end of the hallway. It was meant to make the viewer aware of their space, if you sit on the bench you may become uncomfortable with a tape person’s hand almost touching your head. I believe this one would’ve been more successful if it had hung lower, however in a high school you must consider keeping things out of reach.

The students, administrators, and faculty all love this project. It’s a great way to display art in your school, and get a lot of chatter going about your program. I found out about this lesson through one of my former coworkers, who found out about it through her former coworker, sometimes the best lessons are the ones that are stolen from others! Good luck, I hope you give it a try, and if you do send me some pictures!